Angels Among Us
by Gym-Rat
Summary: It's Christmas,and Riza says she doesn't believe in christmas wishes or santa claus.Somebody's decided that it's time to change her mind! Will they both get their wishes? One to find a home, and one to find love? HIATUS
1. The Way Home

**Again: I don't own it.. I own nothing but the plot of this story! I'm broke!**

**Okay, this is my second attempt atFMA fanfiction... please let me know what you think! **

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**Angels Among Us**

Riza shivered, the frigid winter wind tugging fiercely at her coat as she walked. All the snow on the ground made for a beautiful scene: sparkling white against a sunset the color of gold. The branches of the trees were free of autumn's warm colored leaves, yet somehow they were even more beautiful as they wore the snow and frost like a crystal cloak. As she walked briskly past the park the happy chatter of the remaining patrons drifted to her ears, all of them oddly mismatched conversations that all belonged to different owners.

" Oh Jean," a familiar, honey warm voice crooned from a bench just up ahead, " It's beautiful!" Riza paused, and watched as the petite, brown-haired woman she knew as Scizeca clutched a small box in her gloved hands.

" I can think of several things that are even more beautiful." The man down on his knee right in front of her spoke, and just as Riza had suspected it was none other than Jean Havok. In the past, the Second Lieutenant could always be seen with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth or a bottle of beer in his hand, but according to Scizeca he hadn't had either one in months. Funny what love can do to a person.

"Stop that…" Scizeca blushed a light shade of red, which soon deepened into a darker shade when Havok grabbed one of her hands and slid off the glove.

" Scizeca," he looked into her dark green eyes, "Would you…. Would you…" he seemed to stutter slightly, loosing a bit of the confident air he had radiated mere moments ago. But in the end it didn't matter, Scizeca knew what he was trying to say.

"Of course I will, nothing would make me happier.." as he slipped the ring onto her finger he stood up, and pulled her into a kiss deep enough to melt the snow around them.

Riza crossed the street to avoid disturbing them, moments like that were far and few in this world and should never be interrupted. She shivered again; the sun was dipping even lower below the horizon causing the air to grow even colder with every breath. Sighing, Riza picked up the pace despite her slightly numb legs, half-heartedly cursing Colonel Mustang the whole way… it was his fault after all. The military-issue car that she usually drove to work was in the shop now after letting him use it to ferry around one of his _many_ dates. Riza wrapped her military coat around her tighter as a particularly bitter wind gusted by, bringing with it bits of snow that stung her face like tiny knives. Fighting against the wind the whole way,

"Some Christmas Eve," she muttered to herself just as she collided sharply with another person.

"I'm sorry," Riza pulled herself to her feet, and helped up the other as well, " I really should watch where I'm going."

"It's alright, I should watch where I'm going too." She spoke with a voice so soft it was almost lost in the wind. Her clothing didn't match the weather, dressed only in a light pink sundress and sandals. Her dull blonde hair was matted with dirt and knots that only grew worse as the wind whipped it around her pale face. Now that both of them were back on their feet, it was easy to notice the large difference in their heights: Riza while not being extremely tall towered over the little girl.

" Are you lost?" Riza asked as she bent back down to be at eye level with the girl.

Sniffing, the little girl's china blue eyes locked onto Riza's coffee colored ones as she nodded and spoke once more in her whispery voice, " Yes."

As she spoke, small sparkling tears began to slide down her pale cheeks.

"It's okay," Riza leaned forward and brushed away one of the tears with her gloved fingers, " We'll find your house, don't cry." The little girl sniffed again and tried not to cry any more. Riza pulled off her jacket and draped it over the small girl. It wasn't all that warm, but at least it was something.

"Thank-you." The girl sniffed again, still trying to hold back her tears.

Riza smiled at her, " That's better isn't it?" she didn't wait for a response before continuing on in as soothing of a voice as possible, " Why don't you tell me your name"

"My name's… Lindsey" She looked up shyly at Riza, " What's yours?"

"Riza," she held her hand out, Lindsey grabbed it and they shook hands, " Nice to meet you, Lindsey." Riza gave a rare wink and stood.

The two began to walk down the snow-coated sidewalk in total silence, Riza in deep thought the whole way. She knew that she ought to try and take the girl to the police office and see if they could find her parents, but it seemed a fool's errand when she was almost positive that the station was already closed for Christmas Eve. That only left one place for Riza to take the girl… back to her own house!

Suddenly, in an unexpected moment of boldness, Lindsey reached up and grabbed Riza's hand as she walked. Riza stopped, and glanced down at Lindsey who seemed to be grinning slightly for the first time since they had met moments ago. Riza continued to walk down the sidewalk, little girl clinging to one hand the whole way home.

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**Well, that's it for the first chapter.. I'm sorry if it was too short. I'll make the next one longer! The whole story isn't going to be too long, it actually started out as a one-shot! Please let me know what you think! Thankies :)**


	2. Christmas Magic?

**I'm feeling kinda blah right now, so I hope this chapter is okay. Thank you to all the people who reviewed! It made me so happy:D**

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Colonel Mustang sat at his desk, impatiently tapping his fingers on his desk as he finished the last of his paperwork. The whole office was empty and dark, the only visible light was that of the streetlamp outside shinning through his office window. Instead of doing his paper work as he was supposed to however, Roy was busy thinking of his conversation with Hughes a few hours back. 

"You should have seen her Roy," Hughes cooed as he held up a picture of his young daughter in her swimsuit last summer, " She was just the cutest thing ever!" he squirmed as he cuddled with the photograph. Roy had sighed and rolled his eyes, not that he didn't enjoy being with his friend, but the pictures were a pain in the butt to deal with.

"Daddy! Daddy!" Hughes young daughter Elysia came running up to the two men, " Guess what!" her young face was bright with excitement as she spoke.

"Hughes has point," Roy caught himself thinking, " She is a cute little kid."

"What?" Hughes leaned over so he was at eye level with her.

She grinned from ear to ear as she spoke, "Mommy and I just finished the cookies for Santa!"

"Really!" Hughes scooped her up into his arms, " Is that so? Do you think he'll like 'em?" he patted her head affectionately.

Elysia jumped out of her father's lap, "Yeah!" she squealed in pure, childish delight.

"So Elysia, what do you want for Christmas?" Roy bent down now to speak with her.

" A puppy!" She said, responding right away to his question, " What do you want!"

Roy stopped and thought a moment… what did he want? " I don't know," He finally confessed, " I guess I'll just have to see what Santa brings me."

Now back in his office, Roy pondered the innocent question once more. What did he want for Christmas?

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"Just let me know when you're done, okay?" Riza called into the steamy bathroom where Lindsey was bathing. 

"Okay." Came the faint yet assuring reply. As soon as they had gotten to the house, Riza had started the water in the tub for the dirt covered little girl. While the young girl bathed, Riza rummaged through her cabinets to find something nice and warm to eat for dinner. She had just started a pot of chicken noodle soup, when a soft voice called from the bathroom:

"I'm done."

Riza turned down the burner and walked back to the small bathroom to retrieve the girl. On her way past the linen closet, Riza made sure to grab the fluffiest towel she could find before entering the warm, humid bathroom. Lindsey was standing on the bathmat, as naked as the day she was born waiting for a towel to dry herself off with. Careful to avert her eyes as best she could, Riza bent down and wrapped the girl in the towel. Even though the soft, white towel was of a regular size, it still managed to touch the floor while being wrapped around her tiny shoulders.

"Now," Riza said, her voice echoing in the small room, "You wait here while I see what I can find for you to wear."

It had been such a long time since she had been a child, Riza really didn't have any clothing that would possibly fit the girl. She dug through the drawers of her cherry wood dresser, pulling out almost all of her clothing before giving up. Next, she tore into her closet with similar results. She slammed the closet door with a bang, and had planned to walk away, when a crashing sound from with the closet stopped her. Carefully, Riza pulled the door open once more hoping that nothing fell out as a result from the crashing a moment ago. Much to her relief, it was only a single cardboard box that had fallen; spewing its various contents around on the floor of the closet. Riza slapped her forehead: of course! This was the box of childhood things her mother had sent a few months ago.. how could she forget so soon! Several photo albums now lay open on the floor sporting pictures of Riza's childhood and family, an fair assortment of dolls were scattered about as well; each one a bit different than the next. One was a giraffe in a sailors suit of pale pink, another an elephant the color of Sunflowers, and finally a snow-white bunny dressed in a velvet red dress with white fur trim. Still stuffed into the bottom of the box however were a few items of clothing: some so hideous Riza couldn't even imagine having worn them such as the pink shirt leather vest combo. Digging deep into the pile of clothes in the box, Riza finally withdrew a small plaid dress with overall like straps and a pair of white tights. It wasn't the greatest outfit ever, but it would have to do.

"Sorry it too me so long! I had to find something small enough for you!" Riza smiled as she stepped back into the cooling bathroom. Not surprisingly Lindsey hadn't moved from where she had been before the frantic clothing search. Riza set the outfit on a dry spot on the counter and stepped out of the room.

"Just come into the kitchen when you're all dressed." She closed the door behind her with a soft click as she stepped back out into the carpeted hallway. Leaving the girl to dress, Riza walked back into the kitchen just in time to save her soup; which was on the brink of boiling over. By the time Lindsey walked into the kitchen, the soup had been poured into two bowls and saltines laid out on a plate between the two.

"You ready for some din…" she trailed off as she caught sight of Lindsey, the straps of the dress each buttoned to the opposite side. Riza tried not to laugh, as she kneeled down to fix the straps. When all the clothing issues had been resolved, the two sat down to their meal of soup and crackers.

"Riza," Lindsey looked up from the broth, " Do you believe in magic?" the question was so innocent, yet so.. unexpected that it caught Riza off guard.

"Well, what kind of magic?" Even the able minded first lieutenant was slightly stumped as to what to say. If she said no, she might discourage the girl, but if she said yes she would have to back it up some how.

" I dunno, Christmas magic.." she looked back down sheepishly into the soup as if it would hide her from the rest of the world. No time like the present for honesty, Riza took a deep breath and replied, " I don't know, I guess so. It's hard to say."

" I believe," For the second time she looked up, this time with a new look of boldness showing through. Not sure about how to respond, Riza just changed the subject,

" So.. Lindsey, what do you want for Christmas?" she realized the error in asking the question as soon as it came out of her mouth: she didn't have anything for the girl.

" I don't know," her new found boldness seemed to melt, " I've never gotten anything before."

"You've never gotten anything… ever?" Riza asked in astonishment, as Lindsey shook her small, blond head.

"Oh" was all Riza said out loud, but in her head she thought " We're going to have to fix this."

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**Okay, there it was.. I hope it wasn't too bad! Happy Holidays everybody! **


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